Pakistan on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the plight of minority Muslim community in Myanmar and called upon the OIC to take all necessary measures for the rescue and rehabilitation of displaced Rohingya Muslims. "The government of Pakistan has been consistently expressing deep concern at the plight of minority Muslim community in Myanmar," said Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah, adding that the current displacement of a large number of Muslims, who are adrift on boats in the Indian Ocean, without access to food and drinking water, is worrisome.
At the 28th session of Human Rights Council in March 2015, he said that Pakistan in its capacity as OIC Group Coordinator for Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues in UN, Geneva, stressed the need for Myanmar government to grant citizenship and other rights to Rohingya Muslims.
He said that Pakistan is also supporting an OIC resolution titled "The Situation of the Muslim Community in Myanmar," which will be presented to the Council of Foreign Ministers on 27-28 May 2015 in Kuwait. "It urges the authorities of Myanmar to take all necessary measures to restore stability and launch a comprehensive reconciliation process in Rakhine State," he added.
The spokesperson further said that Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz addressed a letter to the OIC Secretary General on 20 May 2015, urging the Council of Foreign Ministers to take all necessary measures during the forthcoming Council of Foreign Ministers on 27-28 May 2015 in Kuwait, for the rescue and rehabilitation of displaced Rohingya Muslims.
He said that Aziz will also be taking up the issue with the OIC Ministers during the Council of Foreign Ministers' session so as to evolve a common position among the member states. "Pakistan strongly believes that peaceful co-existence of all communities in Myanmar, with provision of fundamental rights like citizenship, freedom to practice religion, education and security, is essential to peace, progress and prosperity of the country," he added.